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Robert Steele, Open-Source, and You

Greetings. Before I start I’d just like to thank you for tuning in and paying attention. For my first video I’d like to pay tribute to Robert David Steele and his new book, the Open-Source Manifesto. Robert Steele, for those who don’t know, is a former clandestine intelligence officer and project manager who worked with the CIA for approximately 30 years (until 2006 if I’m not mistaken). He has since become a highly outspoken activist, criticizing the manner in which the U.S government and popular culture operate.

Robert caught my attention earlier this year when I accidentally stumbled across a video of him on Youtube. He was giving a lecture at a Hackers and Bloggers Conference in 2007 called Gnomedex. I was extremely impressed by his presentation. He was fiery, on-point, witty, and not afraid to be controversial. Every other video I have tracked down of him since has not disappointed in the least. He understands how ass-backward, compromised, and unaccountable the industrialized governments of the world have become. He comprehends the insidious role central banks play in creating collective misery here and abroad. He is not afraid to acknowledge that world-leaders pay more allegiance to greed, fraternal societies, and secret oaths, than they do to any supposed nation-state or constitution. He is also willing to call the citizenry out on their current state of lethargy, apathy, and ignorance in the face of these challenges. In short, he’s a total bad-ass.

His most recent work, The Open Source Manifesto, is a call to arms for solution-seekers who have become completely disillusioned by the sorry and ugly state of the world. Mr. Steele sees most issues stemming from a handful of common sources: hierarchy, rule by secrecy, lack of decision-support, lack of trust, and lack of integrity. All of these are inexorably linked, but let me address each one individually in a concise but by no means comprehensive fashion.

Hierarchy and the rewards-system underlying it manufactures class-antagonism, and further isolates those at the top from responding adequately to the needs of the remaining congregation. The program of Operation by Secrecy prevents critically important intelligence from reaching the public. We are less safe when kept in the dark, and power-brokers arrogantly dismiss the common person as something to be controlled, rather than someone to be tapped for their problem-solving potential. As a result, and this is critically important: we don’t know what we don’t know, and are therefore kept in a state of arrested development. On top of this we are purposefully bathed in pointless noise from all directions to distract us further. Without proper decision-support to help us arrive at meaningful answers and solutions, we will instead arrive at self-defeating and foolish conclusions that further perpetuate the status-quo.

Real trust amongst people is a rare thing these days because, through the commoditization and monetization of everything around us, money and brand-recognition has taken the place of trust in the transactions between people. We have become alienated and isolated from one another. In confronting this reality, we have to regain our own integrity and interconnectedness by being true to ourselves. We accomplish this by not crucifying our principles in the name of loyalty to some broken meme or institution, and by self-actualizing through direct action. We have to set aside all the bullshit, confront ourselves, and work together. Once we make contact with inner truth, we are then able to unite with our like-spirited brothers and sisters to effect meaningful change. Separate but still One.

The Open-Source model solves world issues by making comprehensive information and complementary tools available to all people, all the time, in an unbiased and uncorrupted form. People do not seem to realize how closed off, and compromised their information channels have become, and how that fact completely alters our entire matrix of beliefs, values, and so on. As a result we are unable to comprehend how carefully managed and misguided we truly are. In my opinion Open-Source models adopted at all levels of society can and will lead to a complete remodeling of mass-consciousness. When our awareness expands new and wonderful behaviors begin to manifest themselves that propel humanity into an entirely new age of potentialities. Cave Art appearing about 30,000-40,000 years ago en masse, more than likely a result of mans’ discovery and widespread cultural adoption of hallucinatory states, was one such bifurcation point. These paintings were our first expressions of the wondrous gifts of symbolic and abstract thought. We have made tremendous progress with these evolutionary tools in hand. However when we no longer possess the wisdom to use these gifts intelligently (as is the case in a closed-system such as ours), they just as easily become our worst enemy and produce dysfunction. Similarly an Open Source paradigm shift cannot succeed without a guiding wisdom founded through honest deliberation. Just as importantly, it cannot succeed without mass-participation. You, me, everyone has something to contribute to this effort; from your neighborhood to the blogosphere. We all have a unique skill to show others, a particular way of thinking to share with the world, a particular niche to fill; your purpose is encoded in your very existence if you knew how to recognize it.

Purpose-driven contribution is the most important thing. Collect, Analyze, and Critique Relevant Data. Offer Your Opinion. Teach and Show Others the Way As You See It. Put yourself and your ideas out there. They are important, and You are important. We need each other, and each other’s insights, for the sake of our collective survival. As Philip K Dick famously wrote, “Since the Universe is actually composed of information, then it can be said that information will save us…We cannot find it on our own.”

Thanks to Mr. Steele and his Open-Source Model, I now see the value in being a producer and distributor of odd-ball ideas. I can finally visualize a meaningful niche for myself and other lost souls. I can now justify the use of videos and blogging in exploring my creative potential as a force for change. So I would just like to say thank you to Mr. Steele for his efforts and insight. In closing this video, I would like to borrow a quote from the late great Terrance McKenna:

“Forget Ideology…just deal with the raw data and trust yourself. No one is smarter than you…inform yourself. Transcend and mistrust ideology. Go for direct experience…everything else is un-confirmable rumor, probably lies, so liberate yourself from the illusion of culture…take responsibility for what you think and what you do.”